ARTICLES ABOUT BODY WORLDS BY DATE - PAGE 2

The second go-round of Gunther von Hagens' amazing plastinated parts exhibition, "Body Worlds 2," at the Museum of Science and Industry reduces us all to children who have just had all of our questions answered by a parent. "Why do my knees hurt?" "Why does my back hurt when I ?" "Why does this have to move when you ...?" Answered. As with the first version, more than 200 "plastinated" specimens combine to fill you in on almost any question you've ever had about your own (or someone else's)

"Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies" drew nearly 800,000 people and almost as many gasps during its 2005 run at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Now, Dr. Gunther von Hagens, the German who invented the plastination process that allows skinless bodies or dissected innards to be posed or mounted, has brought "Body Worlds 2" to the MSI -- even as his "BW1" and "BW3" tour around the world. For "BW2," von Hagens and his Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany, have posed human remains in dynamic poses -- swinging a baseball bat, diving, ice skating, in a yoga stretch -- to display how the body's interior works.

thu 1/18 Moving play Winter always seems to set the stage for your own dramatic tale of tragedy and heroism. Too bad you can't sell tickets. You can, however, sit in on the dark story of Emily Book, the tragic superhero at the center of the House Theatre's newest show, "The Sparrow." Nathan Allen co-wrote and directs the play (he also co-wrote "Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe" last year) about a small-town girl who has telekinetic powers. 8 p.m. Through Feb. 24. See metromix.

You've vowed not to waste another winter afternoon romancing the TiVo just because it's damp and dreary outside. Good timing: The city's museums are starting anew too. This week brings "Body Worlds 2: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies" to the Museum of Science and Industry, as well as openings at the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art and the Museum of Contemporary Photography. And, of course, there are lots of ongoing must-see exhibits. To help you make a day of it, we've even rounded up spots to grab a drink or a bite to eat afterward.

"Body Worlds 2," a sequel to an exhibition that last year became one of the most popular temporary events in Chicago museum history, will open Jan. 17 at the Museum of Science and Industry. Like "Body Worlds," which attracted nearly 800,000 visitors in a seven-month run in 2005, the exhibit features human bodies and body parts that have been preserved through a process called "plastination." The process was developed by German physician and anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who now has three extraordinarily popular "Body Worlds" exhibits touring museums worldwide.

"Body Worlds 2," a sequel to an exhibition that last year became one of the most popular temporary events in Chicago museum history, will open Jan. 17 at the Museum of Science and Industry. Like "Body Worlds," which attracted nearly 800,000 visitors in a seven-month run to the museum in 2005, the exhibit features human bodies and body parts that have been preserved through a process called "plastination." The process was developed by German physician and anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who now has three extraordinarily popular "Body Worlds" exhibits touring museums worldwide.

Tucked away in the back of this coastal city's export-oriented manufacturing zone is a place that can only be described as a modern mummification factory. Inside a series of unmarked buildings, hundreds of Chinese workers, some seated in assembly-line formations, are cleaning, cutting, dissecting, preserving and re-engineering human corpses, preparing them for the international museum exhibition market. "Pull the cover off. Pull it off," one Chinese manager says as a team of workers begin to lift a blanket from the head of a cadaver stored in a stainless steel container filled with formalin, a chemical preservative.

Last-minute visitors eager to see preserved human bodies found themselves shut out Labor Day weekend, even though the Museum of Science and Industry kept around-the-clock hours for one of the most popular exhibits in its history. "I always procrastinate," said Bob Day, who drove from Milwaukee early Sunday only to find "sold out" signs on the museum's front door. "Usually, it works out OK. This time it caught up with me." The museum announced last month that it would take the unprecedented step of keeping "Body Worlds"--a collection of cadavers preserved by a technique called plastination--open continuously for the last three days of the exhibition, which closed at 9 p.m. Monday.

Last-minute visitors eager to see preserved human bodies found themselves shut out Labor Day weekend, even though the Museum of Science and Industry kept around-the-clock hours for one of the most popular exhibits in its history. "I always procrastinate," said Bob Day, who drove from Milwaukee early Sunday only to find "sold out" signs on the museum's front door. "Usually, it works out OK. This time it caught up with me." The museum announced last month that it would take the unprecedented step of keeping "Body Worlds"--a collection of cadavers preserved by a technique called plastination--open continuously for the last three days of the exhibition, which closed at 9 p.m. Monday.

Jurors needed only about an hour Monday to convict Louis David Drexel of first-degree murder in the 2002 slaying of his wife, Ronyale White, who was shot after she had called 911 three times and police were late to respond. Drexel's trial was unusual because jurors heard two different audio recordings of the actual slaying--White's third 911 call and a microcassette tape she apparently made after the quarrel with her husband started. On the recording White made, she could be heard begging police to respond as her husband was breaking in her bedroom door and shooting her as she screamed.